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The issue that interests me is not the specifics of the Alex Coberly case, but rather the larger question, raised by many people, of how principals are hired, moved among schools in the district, and evaluated.

At one south Seattle school, the staff, after exhausting other options, took a "no-confidence vote" in the principal, with approximately 90% of staff saying they had no confidence in the principal's ability to run the school. The results were posted on the front door of the school for everyone to read, but the principal stayed on for the rest of that year and into the next year before she disappeared on administrative leave with no explanation or indication of how long that would last. The administrative leave lasted for months until finally the interim principal announced he would stay on for the rest of the year.

I assume the prinicpal's union contract provides some employment protection. But what exactly has to happen before a principal is removed from a school?

10 comments:

My understanding is that when a school gets a new principal, so long as the new principal isn't already working as a principal in the District, school community representatives get to participate in interviews and recommend a choice to the Superintendent. The Superintendent is under no obligation to follow that recommendation.

However, if the new principal is someone who is currently working as a principal for Seattle Public Schools, the community does not participate at all. The Superintendent makes the appointment unilaterally.

As for removing a principal, it is near impossible. The District seems to give more value to the voice of a single principal than the voices of hundreds of families. Petitioning the District or the Superintendent, even picketing the school have proven ineffective. The most expedient path appears to be making the person's working life so miserable that they ask to leave. Isn't that a sorry state of affairs?

FYI, here's the update in the Seattle Times Sunday on the Alex Coberly situation:

Ballard principal charged with exposure

The principal of Whittier Elementary in Ballard has been charged with indecent exposure, according to a letter sent by the Seattle School District and received by parents on Saturday.

Alex Coberly has been on administrative leave since Dec. 7, when the district learned he was the subject of a criminal investigation. Last week, after the Seattle City Attorney's Office filed a misdemeanor complaint against him, the district notified parents about the nature of the alleged offense.

Coberly remains on indefinite leave, said Patti Spencer, district spokeswoman. "We need to review all the information. We don't have all the documents in our hands and can't speculate on a time frame for making decisions. It's not appropriate for us to discuss potential outcomes."

The school-district letter said the alleged incident "occurred outside of school hours and did not involve minors."

Coberly was in his fifth year as Whittier principal. He joined the district in 1998 as a substitute teacher and worked at Thurgood Marshall Elementary.

Getting rid of a principal has happened, here's an article about such an event. However she hadn't been a principal for very long and that may have made removing her easier.

http://tinyurl.com/y6tbqb

Notice the lack of unbiased reporting, refering to her in the first paragraph as "popular." By what objective measure?

As vice principal at Bryant, this woman acted in a completely unprofessional manner to my family. Several here have heard the story probably more times than they want. My particular story was not known by the district and did not affect her demotion. It might reveal patterns though that the district did see.

To be fair, part of the problem was that it's impossible to fire a tenured teacher. The kindergarten teacher was emotionally abusive to my son. In private Ms Hamai was supportive, but at the SIT meeting, when the kindergarten teacher changed her story and got all wacko blaming my five year old for such horrible things as "hurting her feelings," Hamai followed the teacher's lead into blaming everything on the parents and that my son needed to be punished for making the teacher cry. The teacher's behavior was irrelevant. Conveniently for her, all records of that SIT meeting got lost in the remodel. At least that's what she told me when I asked for them.

When she got notice of the demotion and some parents rallied to send letters to the district in support of her, it was only a fluke that I heard about it. I wrote a letter suggesting that to get the whole story the district should also get letters from parents who left the school because of her. I was not alone.

My experiences and the wealth of comments with conflicting perspectives about Whittier and Coberly show that one man's meat is another man's poison.

Will also say that the teachers' unions do themselves a disservice when they make it almost impossible to get rid of a bad teacher. Makes the whole profession appear less respectable.

(At the SIT meeting, I asked for details of what my son did to hurt her feelings. She said that when she sang 'Skiddamarink' to the class and pointed at him during the "I love you" part he made a grimace.)

"My particular story was not known by the district and did not affect her demotion. It might reveal patterns though that the district did see." The poster said her story was not know by the district.

It is true there should be patterns that surface to tell you if a principal is bad, but who at Whittier does know the things that have happened to some of us?

Those of us at Whittier who wish for a change in leadership are told by other parents not to dare speak out. We are told that if you complain to his boss it will not be held in confidence and he will find out.

Is this true? What is held in confidence. I know some really outrages things that were done but I just am also scared to make waves. I have tried to get some others who also have hade issues to complain but they are afraid it will affect their child's relationship with their teacher.

Often I have been told he won't stay forever just wait him out.

There are many parents who I know who say, "don't ruffle the waters he could be worse." And always they say, "Just be lucky Whittier is such a strong school". Nevertheless, there is this side of me that wonders why it has to be this way.

Again, this goes to the issue of leadership - if ethical leadership is a priority for the school district and the unions, principals will not be able to create an atmosphere of distrust. I understand that the school district has been kept apprised of at least some of his bad behavior but have done nothing. If this is true, it speaks volumes about their priorities.

Thanks, Anonymous. In the section of the RCW you referenced, I found this:

"In the event it is determined that there is probable cause or causes that the employment contract of an employee should not be renewed by the district for the next ensuing term such employee shall be notified in writing on or before May 15th preceding the commencement of such term of that determination, or if the omnibus appropriations act has not passed the legislature by May 15th, then notification shall be no later than June 1st, which notification shall specify the cause or causes for nonrenewal of contract. Such determination of probable cause for certificated employees, other than the superintendent, shall be made by the superintendent. Such notice shall be served upon the employee personally, or by certified or registered mail, or by leaving a copy of the notice at the house of his or her usual abode with some person of suitable age and discretion then resident therein. Every such employee so notified, at his or her request made in writing and filed with the president, chair or secretary of the board of directors of the district within ten days after receiving such notice, shall be granted opportunity for hearing pursuant to RCW 28A.405.310 to determine whether there is sufficient cause or causes for nonrenewal of contract"

and this:

"Every superintendent determining that the best interests of the school district would be served by transferring any administrator to a subordinate certificated position shall notify that administrator in writing on or before May 15th preceding the commencement of such school term of that determination, or if the omnibus appropriations act has not passed the legislature by May 15th, then notification shall be no later than June 1st, which notification shall state the reason or reasons for the transfer, and shall identify the subordinate certificated position to which the administrator will be transferred."

But I still don't see what makes it "neary impossible to terminate principals, particularly those with more than three years experience."

Can you give me some more pointers to the section or sections that you see as creating the restriction?

I'm not the same poster above, but I do know that it's very complicated. Not only does state school law (RCW 28A) govern school employee employment, but state and federal law also set up the contract and bargaining provisions used in school district bargaining and employee grievance procedures. There is also a huge amount of law set forth in the WAC's. If you really want the answer, talk to SEA's or WEA's legal representation, who are experts.

Education Acroynms

Advanced Learning - SPS' three-tier program for advanced learners. Made up of APP, Spectrum and ALOs. (Note: the name of the district program is "Advanced Learning Services and Programs" but these three programs fall under "Highly Capable Services" of AL Services and Programs.

ALO - Advanced Learning Opportunity, the third tier of SPS' Advanced Learning program

AP - Advanced Placement. A national program of college-level classes given in high schools.

APP - Accelerated Progress Program. One of the levels of the Advanced Learning Program. NOTE: the name of this program is now "HIGHLY CAPABLE COHORT." This change occurred in 2014.

ASB - Associated Student Body. High school leadership groups.

AYP - Adequate Yearly Progress. Part of NCLB.

BEX - Building Excellence. SPS' capital renovation/rebuilding program that is funded via the BEX levy. Every 3 years there is the Operations levy and either the BEX or BTA levies as those two levies rotate in six year cycles).

BLT - Building Leadership Team. Staff members at a school who meet regularly to discuss building issues.

BTA - Buildings, Technology, Academics. The major maintenance/other capital fund for SPS. Originally BTA was to cover major maintenance like HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning), roofs, waterlines, etc.) but now covers wide swaths of items like athletic fields, technology and funding academic needs.

CAICEE - Community Advisory Committee for Investing in Educational Excellence. Created by former Superintendent Manhas in 2008, to issue a report about reform recommendations for SPS.

CSIP - Continuous School Improvement Plan, the plan for improvement for each school as required by state law.

EOC - End of Course Assessments, given in math and science, required for high school graduationESEA - Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the federal law that governs education, includes the NCLB accountability provisions.

e-STEM or e-STEAM - STEM or STEAM curriculum with an environmental focus.

FACMAC - Facilities and Capacity Management Advisory Committee. A district committee comprises of an all-volunteer citizen group created in 2012 to help bring research and ideas to capacity management issues in the district.

FERPA - Family Education Rights and Privacy Act. A federal law that protects students' privacy

FRL - Free and reduced lunch.

FTE - Full Time Equivalent

FY - Fiscal Year

Highly Capable Services - NEW name (as of 2014) as umbrella name for these programs: Highly Capable Cohort (formerly APP), Spectrum and ALO (Advanced Learning Opportunities).

HSPE - High School Proficiency Exam, state assessment that replaced the WASL for 10th graders, required for graduation

HQT - Highly Qualified Teacher, a standard set by federal law

IA - Instructional Assistant

IB - International Baccalaureate program. An international program of advanced classes that can either be taken as stand alone or as part of an overall IB program.

IDEA - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The federal law that governs special education

MAP - Measures of Academic Progress. A computer-based adaptive assessment made by NWEA and originally purchased by the district for use as a district-wide formative assessment but now used for a wide variety of purposes.

MSP - Measurement of Student Progress, the state proficiency assessment that replaced the WASL for students in grades 1-8

MTSS - Multi-Tiered Systems of Support

NCLB - No Child Left Behind, a provision of the federal education law, ESEA, introduced during the George W. Bush administration